评论
打印
The silos are also protected by electronic surveillance, and by helicopter and ground patrols.
发射井还受到电子侦查、直升机和地面巡逻的保护。
The Hueys carrying us to one of the silos landed well outside the fence, in a farmer’s field.
休伊直升机把我们带到其中一个发射井，正好落在围栏外的一处农田里。
Accompanying Milley was Admiral Charles Richard, who was then the commander of Strategic Command, or Stratcom.
陪同米利的是美国海军上将查尔斯·理查德，他当时是美国战略司令部的指挥官。
Stratcom is in charge of America’s nuclear force; the commander is the person who would receive orders from the president to launch nuclear weapons—by air, sea, or land—at an adversary.
战略司令部负责美国的核力量；而这位指挥官是接受总统命令，从海陆空向敌方发射核武器的人。
It was windy and cold at the silo.
发射井里风很大，气温低。
Air Force officers showed us the 110-ton blast door, and then we walked to an open hatch.
空军军官带我们到了110吨重的防爆门前，我们随后走进了一个敞开的舱口。
Richard mounted a rickety metal ladder leading down into the silo and disappeared from view. Then Milley began his descent.
理查德爬上一架摇摇晃晃的、往下通到发射井的金属梯子，稍后消失在人们的视野中。米利随后开始向下爬。
“Just don’t touch anything,” an Air Force noncommissioned officer said. “Sir.”
一名空军士官说：“长官，不要碰任何东西。”
Then it was my turn.
然后轮到我了。
“No smoking down there,” the NCO said, helpfully.
“下面禁止吸烟，”这位士官热心地说。
The ladder dropped 60 feet into a twilight haze, ending at a catwalk that ringed the missile itself.
梯子下降到60英尺高的地方，四周是朦胧的薄雾，梯子尽头是环绕导弹的天桥。
The Minuteman III weighs about 80,000 pounds and is about 60 feet tall.
民兵3洲际弹道导弹重约8万磅，高约60英尺。
The catwalk surrounded the top of the missile, eye level with its conical warhead.
天桥环绕着导弹的顶部，锥形弹头与视线齐高。
Milley and I stood next to each other, staring silently at the bomb.
米利和我紧挨着站着，默默地盯着那颗炸弹。
The warhead of the typical Minuteman III has at least 20 times the explosive power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
标准的民兵3导弹弹头的爆炸威力至少是摧毁广岛的原子弹的20倍。
We were close enough to touch it, and I, at least, was tempted.
我们离导弹很近，可以触摸到它，至少我被它吸引了。
Milley broke the silence. “You ever see one of these before?”
米利打破了沉默。“你以前见过这种东西吗?”
“No,” I answered.
“没有，”我回答。
“Me neither,” Milley said.
“我也是，”米利说。
I couldn’t mask my surprise.
我无法掩饰我的惊讶。
“I’m an infantryman,” he said, smiling. “We don’t have these in the infantry.”
他微笑着说：“我是一名步兵，我们的步兵没有这些装备。”
He continued, “I’m testifying in front of Congress on nuclear posture, and I think it’s important to see these things for myself.”
他接着说：“我正在国会就核态势作证，我觉得亲自看看这些武器很重要。”
Richard joined us. “This is an indispensable component of the nuclear triad,” he said, beginning a standard Strategic Command pitch. “Our goal is to communicate to potential adversaries: ‘Not today.’ ”
理查德也加入我们，开始做标准的战略司令部演讲，说道：“这是核三角(陆海空三位一体核力量)不可或缺的组成部分，我们的目标是告诉潜在的对手：‘今天打不了。’”
(When I later visited Richard at Offutt Air Force Base, the headquarters of Stratcom, near Omaha, Nebraska, I saw that his office features a large sign with this same slogan, hanging above portraits of the leaders of Russia, Iran, and North Korea.)
(后来我在内布拉斯加州奥马哈附近的战略司令部总部奥佛特空军基地拜访理查德时，看到他的办公室里挂着一个写着同样口号的大牌子，牌子下面是俄罗斯、伊朗和朝鲜领导人的肖像。)
